Category: World News

News stories from around the World, with focus on my home country India, presented with wit and pun.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-08

About: the world this week, 20 February to 26 February 2022, war-an invasion, chess, a not so noble gas, elections, and a Western movie that hopes to lasso a barnful of Oscars!

Everywhere

War (and Peace?)

Finally, after weeks of invasion of the media by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the stalemate ended. And the world’s worst fears came true: Russia ‘royally’ invaded Ukraine through the Donbas region on 24 February 2022 calling it a ‘special military operation’ with the goal of ‘demilitarising and denazifying’ Ukraine: it made claims (false) about genocide perpetrated against ethnic Russians in the eastern parts of Ukraine, and they asking for help as one of many reasons.

I never knew invading another Country was so easy-never mind the preparation-without any kind of overt provocation by Ukraine. And all along implying that it was going to happen.

Read the basics of the build-up of the story at:

https://kumargovindan.wordpress.com/2021/12/26/world-inthavaaram-2021-52/

We have to give it to the United States (US) for using their superior ‘intelligence’ with President Biden’s relentless invasion theory bearing fruit. But they could do nothing to prevent it. Ukraine, despite its intent, has not yet joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). If it had, NATO troops can enter Ukraine to defend it. Now, the best that NATO can do is watch from across the Borders. And keep gathering intelligence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “We do not intend to occupy Ukraine. To anyone who would consider interfering from the outside: if you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history. All relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me”.

The scope of the Russian attack appears to be massive, with cruise and ballistic missiles targeting infrastructure near major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Dnipro.

This come days after Putin recognised the independence of Ukraine’s two eastern areas of Donetsk and Luhansk and ordered Russian forces into these regions as what he called ‘peacekeepers’, wow! And this also comes weeks after Russia amassed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.

A fantastic case of Russia being the criminal, the prosecutor, and the judge – all rolled into one tank and shot into Ukraine.

Recall, Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014, and pro-Russia rebels have since been fighting Ukrainian forces in the eastern areas of Donetsk and Luhansk. More than 14,000 people were killed in that conflict.

Ukraine is also known for the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster – considered the worst nuclear disaster in history – that occurred on 26 April 1986 in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union. Russia would be looking to seal off this site to prevent any new kind of new danger spilling over from the, now shut-down and boundary isolated nuclear power plant. Well, it did just that on entering Ukraine.

Three decades ago, the newly independent country of Ukraine was briefly the third-largest nuclear power in the world. Thousands of nuclear arms had been left on Ukrainian soil by Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But in the years that followed, Ukraine made the decision to completely denuclearise – destroying or returning its nuclear arsenal to Russia. In exchange, the US, the United Kingdom(UK), and Russia would guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty and border security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum. Now Russia has failed that trust. And the US and UK too?

It beguiles me, what do you call such a reckless invasion by a responsible nuclear superpower? Can it ever be trusted? Russia’s action is unacceptable and condemnable. It sets a dangerous precedent in attacking an independent country on fictitious, flimsy reasons; a country that has chosen its own path and has not shown any unprovoked military aggression against Russia.

What options does Ukraine have? Fight it out or lay down arms-to avoid bloodshed -talk it over with Russia and accept not to join NATO, for a start? Where does the United Nations (UN) come in, when will it grow teeth?

There is enough of Russia for Russia. Otherwise there is all of Space to occupy, if they can. Live and let live!

Chess

‘I was just enjoying myself’, so said 16 years old Chess Grandmaster (GM) Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa from Chennai, Tamilnadu, India, when he stunned the World No 1, Magnus Carlsen, in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters Online Rapid Chess Tournament. He became only the third from the country- after Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna – to earn a victory over the Norwegian Chess superstar, in any form of the game.

Praggnanandhaa is a chess prodigy, the fifth-youngest person ever to achieve the title of GM, behind Abhimanyu Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, Dommaraju Gukesh (Gukesh D), and Javokhir Sindarov. He is the younger sibling of Woman GM Vaishali Rameshbabu.

Praggnanandhaa won the World Youth Chess Championships Under-8 title in 2013. In 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest international GM in history, at the age of 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days.

We have a new King in the Castle. And he comes armed with a coolness beyond his years and ash smeared on his forehead. Mind it!

India has nearly 70 GM’s now, up from 20 in 2007. Twelve of them are women. That’s a formidable army: Russia, and others, beware!

Radon

The ‘Airthings’, in the Rapid Chess Tournament Title, quickly caught my eye before Praggnanandhaa could make his next move. What is Airthings?

Established in 2008, Airthings is a global tech company which aims to educate people on the prevalence of Radon, as well as other indoor air contaminants, and develop technology solutions to help people measure the dangers lurking inside homes and tackle them to live a healthy indoor life.

Airthings makes user-friendly Radon detectors to measure Radon levels in Homes and Buildings akin to the common smoke detectors. Radon testing for homeowners has been stationary for almost 30 years. Traditionally, people only had two options: call a professional to test radon levels, or purchase a single-use charcoal test which was then sent to a laboratory for the results. Airthings broke this tradition by designing, making, and supplying affordable Radon and other indoor air quality sensors trying to make them essential and a universal element in every building.

Next, what is Radon, why does it need to be measured?

Radon is an inert, colourless, odourless, radioactive, noble gas, present in the atmosphere in trace amounts; produced by the natural breakdown or radioactive decay of uranium and thorium present in rocks, soil, and groundwater. Since it emanates from the earth’s crust, the level of Radon at a place varies depending on the uranium content of the location. When Radon deteriorates, it releases radioactive energy, which is a health hazard. And can cause lung cancer. People can be exposed to the gas primarily from breathing Radon in the air that comes through cracks and gaps in buildings and homes from the base foundation. There is Radon in water too, because it can permeate well waters, hot and cold springs, making water unsafe to drink. When these gases are confined inside houses, it accumulates to dangerous concentration levels.

Outdoors, Radon disperses rapidly and, generally can be ignored. Breathing Radon over time increases risk of lung cancer and is the second leading cause of lung cancer (in the US, for one). Only smoking causes more deaths.

Indoor Radon can be controlled and managed with proven, cost-effective techniques based on Testing. If Radon levels are high, a certified Radon service professional can fix the problem.

A , 0 to 48 Becquerels/cubic meter (Bq/cubic meter) level of Radon is safe and normal. If it reaches 100 Bq/cubic meter, a ventilation solution has to be found. Guidelines suggest a mitigating action if levels are at or above 148 Bq/cubic meter . Usually, Radon problems are fixed using an underground ventilation system or by increasing the rate of air changes in the building-through fresh-air and exhaust fans.

I brought this up to bring awareness on indoor pollutants, especially Radon, as I could hardly see it ‘permeate’ our knowledge!

Elections

Elections seen to be always happening in India’s noisy democracy, in a never-ending cycle. An election buzz seems to be everywhere, every few months.

This week saw the counting of the Urban Local Body Elections in the State of Tamilnadu-held after 10 years -where the party ruling the State romped home. But not before the national party, ruling at the Centre made its mark in the State. Analysts are out there, with their calculators trying to work out the math from the wins and losses.

I think people voted for continuity to see that the party which just won the State Assembly Elections, also rules the Local Bodies. No excuses hereinafter, for the winners. Deliver, or pack and leave.

Meanwhile, State Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur, and Uttarakhand are in various phases of completion. Punjab, Goa, and Uttarakhand voted on a single day on 14 February. Manipur votes in two phases on 27 February and 3 March 2022. Uttar Pradesh is voting in seven phases: 10 February, 14 February, 20 February, 23 February, 27 February, 3 March, and 7 March 2022.

Counting of votes for all the Sates that went to the polls over the past weeks of February is scheduled on 10 March 2022. Testing times ahead.

Please Yourself

This week I found time to see the power of The Power of the Dog, a movie expected to make a big bite at the Oscars with an awesome 12 nominations in various categories in the 94th Academy Awards Night, coming up later in March 2022. I read that this year it will be hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes.

The Power of the Dog is a powerful, haunting, psychological Western movie thriller where instead of guns you have the bango, the piano, the cattle, the landscape, and the raw cowhide doing the shooting. It is based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel of the same name. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Phil), Kirsten Dunst(Rose), Jesse Plemons(George), and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Peter), and is directed by New Zealand Director, Screenwriter, and Producer, Jane Champion.

A wealthy American ranch in Montana, is run by brothers Phil and George. While Phil is blunt, cruel, and aggressively emulates his late mentor Bronco Henry in his traditional rawhide cowboy dressing, George is cool, polished, a perfect gentlemen with suit, tie, and hat to boot.

During a cattle drive George falls for inn-keeper Rose who is a widow with a teenage son, Peter. George lifts Rose to the ranch after marrying her, and sends her son to College to study medicine-surgery. Phil plays on the emotions of Rose with his coldness, pushing her into drinking, turning her in an alcoholic wreck, all the while mocking Peter’s effeminate manners.

Peter comes over to the ranch during a College break, feels his Mom’s condition, and snares and dissects a Rabbit to show-off his dissecting skills. He is befriended by Phil after Peter catches him bathing in a secluded pond and masturbating with a Bronco Henry scarf around his neck. Peter also discovers a stack of the magazines of nude men with the mentor’s name on them near the secret pond.

Phil teaches Peter to ride a horse and even starts making a lasso of raw cowhide for him to twine their friendship. Their warmth irks Rose and drives her further in an abyss. And one day, in a drunken stupor, she defiantly sells unused hides – normally burnt off by Phil – to a native Indian, when Phil & Peter are out for a ride together.

When Phil discovers his hides are gone, he creates a ruckus, and is unable to complete twining of the lasso he was working on. Peter offers him some hide he had himself cut-off, using a surgeon’s gloves, from a cow, which had died of Anthrax. Phil works through the night, with Peter watching, to finish off the lasso inadvertently allowing an injured bloody wound in his hand to soak in the solution used to soften the rawhide. During the process Phil narrates a story of Bronco Henry saving his life in freezing weather with the heat of his body and does not answer Peter’s question of whether they did it naked. Peter, in turn tells him about having to cut down the corpse of his alcoholic father who had killed himself by hanging. And that his father told him he was not ‘kind enough’.

The next day Phil is found sick in bed and later dies (of Anthrax – says the Doctor). George is puzzled about the Anthrax as Phil was awfully careful in staying away from dead cattle.

In the end Peter, who avoided Phil’s funeral, smiles on seeing his Mom embrace George outside the ranch, and perhaps live happily ever after. He pushes the Phil-made lasso, with a gloved hand, beneath his bed. You need to figure out yourself on what happened to Phil – that’s an unspoken, but ‘clear’ mystery.

Superb acting by the cast, especially Benedict Cumberbatch, and Kirsten Dunst who drinks into the character.

I found the music score, composed by English musician Jonny Greenwood who is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, filling the film to the brim. Made me grow my ears!

More Eastern and Western stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Wars do not work-live peacefully with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-07

About: the world this week, 13 February to 19 February 2022, Wars, Emergency, King Kong, Humara Bajaj, Workhorses, a Disco King, and Space.

Everywhere

Russia Re-thinks Borders and Tanks

While Russia was amassing its troops at the Ukrainian Border, the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries developed ‘war fever’ and built-up high border temperatures, ‘Russia is going to invade in the next several days, today, tomorrow, Wednesday, Friday, 4am, 6pm…Your guess is as good as mine. Meanwhile, Russia began withdrawing some troops, bordering Ukraine, after completion of a number of combat training exercises, including drills. Some Units of the Western military districts have already been loaded on rail and road transport and began moving to their military garrisons. True Lies?

The ‘Warm War’ gets slightly cold (before it gets warm again?) Wonder what’s running through Russia’s mind with the tension build-up on war: A return to the Law of the Jungle, where a powerful predator wolfs down another, or a farewell to arms? India’s Ashoka the Great gave-up on war in 260 BCE: Russia should take history lessons from India.

Emergency Drives in to Canada

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a national emergency in response to the truckers protest against various Covid19 restrictive measures and vaccine mandates, which had swelled-up over the past weeks to vomit all kinds of grievances. And had besieged streets and roads. The Emergency Act which was enacted in 1988 has never been used before in Canada’s history-there is always a first! The emergency powers come into immediate effect and will last 30 days. This gives the Government stronger powers to disperse gatherings of protestors; go after crowdfunding platforms and payment processors, which funded the protest; and compel financial institutions to freeze accounts of individuals and organisations linked to the agitation. Looks to be too deadly a drive.

Coronavirus, the King Kong of Hong Kong

Just when we thought we are beginning to see the last spike of the coronavirus, Hong Kong was hit by a stunning tsunami of new Covid19 cases that overwhelmed Hospitals and left more than 10,000 people waiting for treatment.

This is the worst wave in Hong Kong in two years since the pandemic, throwing-up more than 15000 cases in the last two weeks with about 12 deaths. And shattered the ‘Zero Covid’ strategy of ‘Find, Test, Trace, Isolate, and Support.

‘Zero Covid’ is a control and maximum suppression strategy, the goal being to get the affected area back to zero new infections and resume normal life across the spectrum.

It appears that the huge back-log of testing – three to four day testing lag- is the primary cause of the spiralling outbreak.

Humara Bajaj, Made in India

In the days India was under the Licence Raj, in the tight business-regulated seventies when bikes were scarce and scooters ruled, getting a Bajaj Scooter was like manna from Heaven. You make a booking and wait for near about 10 years for the Scooter to arrive. And when it did arrive you have to lovingly put it to sleep on its side for a moment, wake it up, and kick it, to start driving. If it doesn’t start, repeat the process. Everything in the scooter made the right noise except the horn which had a distinctive ‘murmur tone’ – one had to get horribly close to hear it. Nevertheless, it was an iconic scooter and India lived on it.

India’s then Licence Raj strangulated manufacturing and though there were many other two-wheeler manufacturers: Ideal Java, Enfield, Rajdoot, and Lambretta, only Bajaj Auto’s Scooter had a 10 year waiting period. The rules stipulated that a Company could produce only up to 25% in excess of its licensed capacity. The maker of the Bajaj Scooter, industrialist Rahul Bajaj, pleaded with the Government to allow him to manufacture more scooters to meet the ruthless demand, without much success.

The story goes that, when Rahul went to New Delhi to face a three-member commission, the Chairman of Automobile Products of India (API), which Company manufactured Lambretta scooters, had been invited as a competitor. API made a case of their scooter being superior by saying it weighed about 100 kilograms (kg) whereas Baja Auto’s Vespa weighed only 94 kg. Rahul Bajaj famously replied, “Yes, the Lambretta scooter is 100 kg of silver; the Bajaj scooter is 94 kg of gold!”

Initially, Bajaj Auto made Vespa Scooters under license from the Italian company, Piaggio. When the two companies failed to reach an agreement on renewing their ride together, in the early 1970s, the Chetak Scooter was born out of necessity. And went on to become a symbol of aspiration and a house-hold name in pre-liberalisation India.

The Chetak (meaning, one who remains conscious) was eponymous with the name of Maharana Pratap’s horse at the battle of Haldighati in the 16th century when fighting the Mughal Army of Akbar. Those familiar with India’s history know that Chetak valiantly saved the then Rajput King of Mewar, Maharana Pratap from certain death, in spite of it being fatally wounded in battle: impaled by the tusk of an Elephant in one leg. Chetak found the gap, when the King was surrounded by the enemy in a losing battle, and carried the seriously injured Maharana to the safety of a nearby forest. Later, Chetak succumbed to its wounds. Maharana Pratap lived to fight another day and regain his kingdom.

Chetak was the synonym of loyalty, coupled with die-hard endurance. The name suited the scooter because it was a robust vehicle with superb balance. The Chetak’s popularity was ‘driven home’ by the timeless advertisement catchline, ‘Hamara Bajaj’ (Our Bajaj).

Rahul Bajaj was never known to be modest. Brash and assertive, he believed he created one of India’s best companies in the difficult days of the Licence-permit Raj. By 1980, Bajaj Auto was the top scooter producer by far, and the Chetak had a 10 year waiting list. Rahul’s success might have been due to the quasi-monopoly status he got as an early entrant at a time when foreign collaborations and licences were difficult to obtain. However, in the 1980s capacity licensing and foreign collaboration for two-wheelers was liberalised. All the world’s top players, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Piaggio, Garelli, Peugot, entered the Indian market through collaborations or joint ventures. Bajaj Auto met the challenge squarely, and beat the newcomers hands down in scooters. However, Hero-Honda surged ahead to an unbeatable position in motorcycles, when scooters were far more popular in the 1980s.

Rahul Bajaj now saw himself as the hero of Indian manufacturing. His ambition was to overtake Honda and become the world’s largest scooter producer. Then came the Indian economic liberalisation in the 1990s. Initially, this seemed to favour Bajaj Auto, since traditional constraints ended. But Indians began to prefer motorcycles to scooters, and Chetak could only carry Bajaj Auto away to rethink and change its strategy, when Hero Honda won the two-wheeler battle.

Bajaj Auto then took a motorcycle turn beginning with the hugely popular Bajaj M-50 and M-80 motorcycle, which I would call a cross between a scooter and a motorcycle. Bajaj Auto also collaborated with Kawasaki of Japan, to make the Kawasaki Bajaj -KB100 -a 100cc motorcycle-which was a roaring success along with other equally successful brands such as, Yamaha RX100 and Hero Honda CD100. I fell for the Yamaha in those days!

The man at helm of all of this was Rahul Bajaj. He was raised in a family where his grandfather, Jamnalal Bajaj, was treated by Mahatma Gandhi as his fifth son. His father Kamalnayan was a Congress party member who later fell out with its leader. The Bajaj family was politically well-heeled, with senior politicians paying visits to their family home.

Rahul Bajaj had just fallen in love with his future wife Rupa (under Mom’s watchful eyes), but his Dad pushed him to first ‘build-up and assemble’ degrees from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, Government Law College, Mumbai, and the Harvard Business School, US. Armed to the teeth with these degrees, and after marrying his pillion-rider Rupa in 1961, Rahul Bajaj took over Bajaj Auto in 1965 to ride his Company from Vespa, through the Chetak saga, to the Kawasaki motorcycle period.

Meanwhile, in the early 1990s, Rajiv Bajaj, Rahul’s eldest son returned to India from business school in the United States, and this is a story of where a son rides on the shoulders of an illustrious father to reach greater heights.

Rajiv Bajaj saw his Dad’s ambition of becoming world No. 1 in scooters was irrelevant in a global economy where motorcycles ruled supreme, and that the company needed to change its strategy accordingly. He took a hard look at Bajaj Auto and came to very different conclusions.

Father Rahul was extremely proud of the two factories he had created, but son Rajiv saw them as grossly overmanned and inefficient. And with such a flawed work culture reforming them was next to impossible. Instead of ploughing through the old to change, he chose to make an entirely new path. Rajiv built a third factory with a totally new workforce and work culture that could compete with the world’s best. Unlike Rahul, Rajiv did not focus on the disadvantages Indian businessmen faced. Instead, he focused on two huge advantages: Diploma Engineers and Research & Development (R&D) Scientists who were available at one-tenth of comparable wages in the Western World.

The old factories had 20% daily wage earners, 80% skilled workers and no engineers at all on the shop floor. At the new factory Rajiv Bajaj created a workforce with 80% diploma engineers and 20% skilled workers. Wages averaged about the same between the old and the new.

Bajaj Auto taught us that India’s big advantage lay not in cheap labour, but in cheap design and engineering skills.

To his credit, father Rahul Bajaj backed son Rajiv’s new approach. Later, Rajiv launched the Bajaj Pulsar series of motorcycles in the 2000s, which were a mind-boggling success. And recently rolled out an electric version of the ‘grand old’ Bajaj Chetak. In 2005 Rahul Bajaj handed over the keys of Bajaj Auto to son Rajiv and stepped back. In April 2021 he gave-up his position as non-executive Director and Chairman.

The veteran head of the Bajaj Group, Rahul Bajaj, passed away on 12 February 2022, Saturday at the age of 83 of pneumonia and heart related problems. He was a given a State Funeral. He goes over to meet the original Chetak, up above the skies. Bajaj Auto is on safe wheels for sure. He leaves behind sons Rajiv and Sanjiv, and daughter Sunaina Kejriwal. His wife Rupa Bajaj passed away in 2013. Rahul Bajaj was an India-First trailblazer. Rest in peace.

Disco Music in India Loses Solid Gold

Indian singer, music composer, and record producer, Bappi Lahiri (Alokesh Lahiri) 69 died in Mumbai this week.

He is known for his disco-style songs where he brought orchestration and fusion of Indian music with international music, popularising the use of synthesised disco music in Indian cinema. ‘I am a Disco Dancer’ in the film ‘Disco Dancer’ (made in Tamil as ‘Paadum Vaanampadi’) was a hugely popular song in the 1980s and 1990s with his typical disco music. Though he mostly made dance numbers, there are some unforgettable melodious jewels, such as in the movie ‘Chalte Chalte and Zakhmee’.

Music apart, Bappi Lahiri was known for his ‘extremely loud dressing’, consisting of tons of gold chains, jewellery, velvet cardigans, sunglasses. He was inspired by Elvis Presley, in addition to a natural fondness for gorgeous, outlandish jewellery and believed wearing all of them – in the manner only he could-worked for him. It did.

ISRO is Back – in Space

India’s ISRO (The Indian Space Research Organisation) is back in business and is warming up for a Moon-Misson later this year with Chandrayaan-3 expected to find Earth’s Moon in August 2022.

This Monday, ISRO successfully launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C52, carrying three satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, on India’s Eastern Coast. The three Satellites were cooly placed in their respective orbits.

PSLV is the third generation launch vehicle of India, the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages. After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as a reliable and versatile launch vehicle of India earning the title, ‘the Workhorse of ISRO’, with 39 consecutively successful missions by June 2017. It consistently delivered various satellites to Low Earth Orbits taking up to 1750 kg of payload to sun-synchronous polar orbits of 600 km altitude.

During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad. Besides it successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013 – that later traveled to Moon and Mars respectively.

Taking a leaf out of the Bajaj Auto handbook, maybe ISRO should consider naming the PSLV as ‘Chetak’. That’s closer to home!

More powerful, jewelled, learning stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Don’t go to war – not with World Inthavaaram

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-06

About: the world this week, 6 February to 12 February 2022, a week which screamed and bursted at its seams in a frenzy of stories about roads, hijabs, oratory, nightingales, cricket, and the Oscar Award nominations.

Everywhere

Roads

Canada has a road-rage problem. Thousands of Canadians have hit the streets in trucks, tractors, cars, and on foot, clogging driveways to protest the Country’s Covid-19 restrictions. With persistent and noisy horn-honking, protesters are demanding lifting of health restrictions, including Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandates, lockdowns, and the kind. This is part of the ‘Freedom Convoy’, which was initially started by truckers protesting a mandate requiring drivers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements.

This week, the protestors stormed and blocked a key bridge that accounts for about 27% of the trade between the United States (US) and Canada. And one that serves as an auto-parts supply chain between the two countries. Well, there are no spare roads and no spare parts too.

While the truckers blocked roads in Canada, across the ‘key bridge’ and yonder border, it’s being revealed that the most dangerous way to travel in the US – roads – became even more deadly during the coronavirus pandemic: roadway deaths soared at the highest rate in recorded history.

Road safety advocates say the numbers match their experience along Maryland Route 210, a six-lane, largely straight stretch with busy business and residential intersections, south of the capital, Washington. It’s called Indian Head Highway, but some call it ‘the highway of death,’ due to dozens of fatal accidents on this highway, over the past decade. “We have roads that are designed for efficient travel, not for safety. These are preventable crashes”, says a Road Expert.

Safety recommendations include increasing enforcement and education campaigns; requiring vehicles to come with collision warning and automatic braking systems; and distracted driving policies that recognise even hands-free devices take a driver’s attention away from the road.

Hijab

It all started with a group of six girls suddenly deciding to wear the Hijab (head-scarf/head covering) to the Government Pre-University College for Girls in Udupi, Karnataka State, last December, when it was never done before. Their argument was, there was no clear instruction on not wearing a Hijab, hence why not? They claimed it was their right under the Indian Constitution. The College decided not to allow girls wearing a hijab and prevented them from entering the College, based on ‘uniform rules’ thinking, which power it owns for the making. Following this incident, in a tit-for-tat strike, a group of boys at the Government Pre-University College in Kundapur, also in Karnataka State, went to college sporting saffron shawls in protest against some girls attending classes wearing the hijab. With the issue spreading like wildfire across Karnataka, Schools and Colleges were shutdown – thanks to the lockdown technology we learnt over the past pandemic months.

The matter was then dragged to the Courts, when the Colleges had the authority to decide and should have simply enforced a uniform dress code -banning any religion proving outfits. The Courts said exactly that: no hijab or saffron shawl, until a more detail uncovering is done. Back to where we started.

We cannot allow religious practices to intrude into Education and it’s time India gets cracking on a Uniform Civil Code, which the Constitution says we must have.

Oratory, Elections

India’s Prime Minister hammered the Opposition to pulp, in fiery oratory, in the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament, defending his Government’s performance and schemes. His timing with the State of Goa was perfect-what with elections coming up- on it getting independence 15 years all other parts of India obtained theirs, and the ‘brother of a Nightingale’ hailing from Goa being chucked out of India’s Radio Station for reciting a freedom fighter’s poem-all in the Opposition ruled years.

The elections in India’s largest northern State of Uttar Pradesh, said to be the bellwether of National Elections in 2024, began on 10 February and will go up to 7 March 2022. It elects 403 members to the State Legislature. Votes will be counted and results declared on 10 March 2022.

Nightingales

Lata Mangeshkar, one of India’s biggest cultural icons and influential singer, called ‘The Nightingale of India’, died in Mumbai, aged 92, due to post-Covid-19 complications. Earlier, in January 2022, Lata was admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.

The Nightingale began singing since her teens and ended up defining music and melody for generations in a career spanning 73 years, delivering more than 15,000 songs across 36 languages. Her work in India’s Hindi film industry -Bollywood- made her a national icon.

Lata Mangeshkar has received several awards chief among them being, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award – India’s highest award in the field of cinema- in 1989. And the Bharat Ratna-India’s highest civilian honour- in 2001.

Born in Indore in the Central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh in 1929, she began learning music at the age of five from her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was a theatre artist. Deenanath adopted the surname Mangeshkar to identify his family with his native town of Mangeshi, in the State of Goa. Lata was named ‘Hema’ at her birth, but her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father’s plays. She was the eldest child in the family, with Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath, in birth order, being her siblings. All are accomplished singers and musicians in their own right. The best known is Asha Bhosle who is as famous as Lata.

After her father’s death, the family moved to Mumbai where a teenage Lata began singing for Marathi movies. She also took-up small roles in a few films to support her family, but would say later that her heart wasn’t in it. ‘I was happiest singing’ she said.

There’s a story that once her father asked one of his music disciples to practice a ‘raag’ while he finished some urgent work. Lata was playing nearby and when suddenly a note of the ‘raag’ that the disciple was rendering, jarred, Lata latched on to it and began correcting him. When her father returned, he discovered a discipline in his own daughter. The rest, they say, is history.

Her big break came in 1949 with the release of a haunting song titled ‘Aayega Aanewala’ for the movie ‘Mahal’. And thereafter there was no looking back.

Initially, she is said to have imitated the acclaimed singer Noor Jehan, but she later developed her own style of singing. She brought a new signature style to Indian film music, moving away from mehfil-style (celebration) performances to suit both ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ female protagonists. A soprano range voice with less volume or amplitude, she had enough weight in her voice to give definite shape to the melody of Indian film songs. Although she had limited coloratura (an elaborate melody with ornamentation and embellishments) skills in her early career, she developed better tone and pitch as she progressed in her playback career. Lyrics of songs in Hindi movies are primarily composed by Urdu poets and contain a higher proportion of Urdu words, including the dialogues. Actor Dilip Kumar once made a mildly disapproving remark about her accent while singing Hindi/Urdu songs; so for a period of time, she took lessons in Urdu.

Lata said that Noor Jehan heard her as a child and had told her to practice a lot. The two stayed in touch with each other for many years to come.

Noor Jehan was a famous Pakistani singer and actress who worked both in India and Pakistan. Being highly versatile, she could sing in several languages including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi, and had recorded over 10,000 songs in her career. When the partition of India happened in 1947, Noor Jehan decided to move to Pakistan and settled in Karachi with her family. She was given the title of ‘Malika-e-Tarannum’ (the Queen of Melody) in Pakistan.

Lata Mangeshkar’s solos and immortal duets with Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar along with a legion of other prominent Indian singers, are among Hindi cinemas most memorable and treasured songs.

The 1974 edition of The Guinness Book of Records had listed Lata Mangeshkar as the most recorded artist. But the claim was contested by Mohammed Rafi. The book continued to list Lata’s name but also mentioned Rafi’s claim. The entry was removed in 1991 until 2011, in which Guinness put Lata’s sister (Asha Bhosle) as the most recorded artist. Currently, Pulapaka Susheela ( P. Susheela)-another Indian Playback Singer associated mostly with South Indian cinema- holds the honour.

Lata Mangeshkar recorded her last song ‘Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti Ki’, which was composed by Mayuresh Pai, as a tribute to the Indian Army and nation. It was released on 30 March 2019.

Lata Mangeshkar never married, staying single, singing like a nightingale until her breath was no more. Rest In Peace, Lata Mangeshkar

India has lost two nightingales since independence. The other ‘Nightingale of India’ was Sarojini Naidu known as such because of her mesmerising poetry. Her works, rich in imagery, covered a variety of themes – love, death, separation among others. Most of her poems have lines repeated across stanzas. This is similar to a Nightingale’s song: repetitive, yet beautiful.

Cricket

The International Cricket Council (ICC)’s Under-19 ‘Boys’ World Cup Cricket Finals was played in the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, West Indies, last Saturday. A very dominant India won a record-extending fifth World Cup-in seven outings of the game-title beating England by four wickets in an extraordinary campaign that was almost derailed by the Covid-19 outbreak. The triumph bore a ruthless resemblance to earlier conquering adventures of the fabulous Under-19 Indian Teams.

India chased down a target of 190 runs in 47.4 overs, reaching 195 for six. Nishant Sindhu played an unbeaten match-winning knock of 50 runs off 54 balls to help India edge past England’s score. Kaushal Tambe had a heart-in-the-mouth moment when fielding in deep square leg, England’s James Rew, batting on 95 pulled a Ravi Kumar delivery towards him. And Tambe almost spilled the ball while trying to take the catch but recovered in time to jump forward and take a stunning one-handed catch to send Rew back to the pavilion. The dismissal was crucial as it broke a 93-run wicket for England’s fourth wicket and India went on to take the remaining two wickets for just five more runs.

Pacer Raj Bawa took five wickets, while wicket keeper Dinesh Bana hit the winning shot(s)with two consecutive sixes to finish the match in style.

Yash Dhull is the winning Indian captain and Tom Prest the losing England captain.

The phenomenal Under-19 win ensures the ‘Indian Cricket Factory’ keeps up a steady supply of youngsters to challenge the past histrionics of the Gavaskars, Kapil Devs, Sachin Tendulkars, Dhonis, and Viraat Kholis. Keep it up, Young India.

Please Yourself

The Oscar nominations 2022 are out with the Academy releasing its nominations this week.

The Power of the Dog -about a domineering rancher (played by Benedict Cumberbatch)-picked up the most nominations. But West Side Story (a Steven Spielberg remake of the yester-years movie),’ Dune – An American epic science fiction film-and Belfast -a British coming of age comedy-drama- were doggedly close behind.

Denzel Washington (Best Actor in, The Tragedy of Macbeth) broke records as the most nominated Black Actor in history. Actress Kristen Stewart (Best Actress as Princess Diana in the movie Spencer) and Singer Beyonce (Best Original Song alongside Dixon) have won their first Academy Award nominations.

Writing With Fire (about a Newspaper run by women) made by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh of India, secured a nomination in the Best Documentation (Feature) category.

The recently released James Bond movie ‘No Time to Die’ won nominations in Best Sound, Best Original Song, and Best Visual Effects.

More drama and visual stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Bond with World Inthavaaram

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-05

About: the world this week, 30 January to 5 February 2022, misinformation spots, medley news, India’s budget, and the aces of Australian Open Tennis.

Everywhere

Spotify in a Spot

Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded in 2006: the world’s largest, with over 381 million monthly active users. Spotify offers digital copyright restricted recorded music and podcasts, including more than 70 million songs, from record labels and media companies.

Joe Rogan is the host of, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, a podcast exclusively acquired by Spotify in 2020, reportedly for a staggering sum. With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, it’s the streaming service’s ‘milch cow’.

In one of the podcasts, Rogan has questioned the need for healthy young people to get vaccinated and has acquired an image of being a reckless peddler of dangerous conspiracy theories, giving oxygen to radical ideas.

In December 2021, Rogan hosted Robert Malone, a doctor who was suspended from Twitter for spreading Covid misinformation. During the show, Malone made several baseless claims, including that Covid vaccines can put people who have had the virus at higher risk. He also espoused an unfounded theory known as ‘mass formation psychosis,’ which suggests that much of the population has been hypnotised to follow Covid protocols. Rogan has also endorsed using Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medicine, as a treatment for Covid-19, despite repeated warnings from US health officials. Following this, 270 physicians and scientists signed an open letter last month calling on Spotify to remove Rogan’s interview with the controversial doctor.

Then, musician and songwriter, Neil Young, an outspoken advocate for Covid-19 safety and prevention stepped in. He wanted Spotify to remove his entire catalog because he does not want his music to share a home with vaccine misinformation. “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” Neil Young thundered.

Over the past week, a chorus of musicians and other podcasters such as Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills and Nash, India Arie, joined Neil Young to condemn Spotify or even remove their content in protest.

Since Young’s music has been pulled-out, Spotify has reportedly lost more than USD 2 billion in market value. But, the episode is still up.

When the world is passing through one of the worst pandemics ever, and just when we are beginning to recover, the least we want is social media influencers spiking themselves into becoming misinformation spreading viruses.

Medley

The World continues to fret and boil over Ukraine with the border crisis with Russia only soaring, getting NATO and the United States (US) on an edge. The US is deploying about 3,000 of its troops to Eastern Europe and has another 8,500 on standby. And Russia has already got about 100,000 of its troops at the border. Now, Russia is calling the US deployments ‘destructive’. There is cold tension in the European air. Watch that space.

Last week I talked about forced religious conversion possibly being the cause of a death by suicide of a young girl, Lavanya, in the Southern State of Tamilnadu, India. A ‘Justice for Lavanya’ movement started on social-media with people seeking a wholesome look into the conversion angle. And this week, the High Court in Madurai ordered the case to be investigated by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and get to the bottom. That, a loss of faith on the local Police.

Tennis superstar Roger Federer has revealed he still hasn’t been able to run as he continues his recovery from a knee surgery, but is adamant he wants to return to the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) circuit. The 20 time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played since Wimbledon last July and had a third knee operation in August last year. By the serve of it, the Swiss icon’s comeback hopes appear very difficult. Of course, we wish to see him rally his knees and return to the game, one knee at a time. There is none like him.

This week, media giant CNN’s (Cable News Network) President Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned saying he had failed to acknowledge a romantic, consensual relationship with another senior executive-whose name he did not explicitly reveal-at the outset. However, CNN’s marketing chief Allison Gollust opened-up about their relationship, which she described as a close professional and personal rapport, built over more than two decades. And that deepened into a romantic tie during the pandemic. She will continue working for CNN. Both Zucker and Gollust are divorced from their respective spouses, but owning up is a class act.

The Beijing Winter Olympics began this week, on 4 February 2022, and it’s getting hot enough to melt the ice.

India announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, where no Indian Diplomat will participate in the opening and closing ceremonies. Indian National Broadcaster Doordarshan also decided to boycott live telecasting the opening and closing ceremonies. Initially, India supported China’s Olympic effort, when nations such as the USA and UK announced a diplomatic boycott over China’s poor human rights record: abuse of its Uighur population, ethnic cleansing in Tibet and suppression of democracy in Hong Kong. But when China put up a Galwan Clash survivor as an Olympic torch-bearer, India saw red and promptly ‘punched a boycott’.

China’s torchbearer for the Winter Olympics 2022 was captured, by India, in June 2020 when he tried to mount an attack on Indian forces in the Galwan Valley. This was a culmination of skirmishes, face-offs, and aggression beginning in May 2020 between Chinese and Indian troops at locations along the Sino-Indian border, including near the disputed Pangong Lake in Ladakh and the Tibet Autonomous Region. The eastern Ladakh border row escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes, on 15 June 2020. Twenty Indian Army personnel were martyred in the border fight that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides, in decades.

China officially acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the clashes with the Indian Army, though it is widely believed that the death toll was a high as over forty.

India’s Budgeting

India’s annual budget presentation is some kind of a ritual where everyone looks to extract some kind of juice for themselves: the individual, for income tax relief; Businesses, for tax concessions and inspiration to start new businesses; States, for blockbuster projects in their region, even new trains…the list is endless. Somebody has to be disappointed – there is nothing for me; nothing for the minuscule income tax-paying percentage of people; nothing Big-Bang, is an annual planetary comment. Actually, it’s a mere revenue report on where the money comes from and where it goes, though it does try to transcend into a show of path-breaking reform or clever intent.

This year’s Budget presented on 1st February was no different. And from the reading of the experts it’s a practical and sane plan to improve the lot of India. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)- they must be serious – said it’s a very thoughtful policy agenda for India that places a great deal of emphasis on innovation in research and development on human capital investment and digitalisation. India plans to release a digital currency by the end of the year and quietly announced a tax on this sphere of activity.

However, some bird-watchers of the economy say there is a looming job crisis, which needs the attention it deserves. Failure to generate enough quality jobs may convert what should be India’s demographic dividend into a restless force to reckon with. I’ll leave it at that.

Australian Open Tennis Aces

Winning a Tennis Grand Slam Title on three different kinds of surfaces is a rarity, and only four players have done it before: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Serena Williams. Now, last Saturday the number grew to five, with Australian Ashleigh Barty, 25, winning the Australian Open Women’s Single Title beating 28 years old American Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6 (2). Apart from Ashley Barty, Serena Williams is the only other in this elite category to have won the first three Slams across clay, grass, and hard courts.

Barty became the first Australian in 44 years, to win the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil did it in 1978. O’Neil was present in the stands, with the crowd, cheering Barty. The prize was awarded by yet another special person, 14-time Grand Slam champion, Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley who claimed the Australian Open singles title on four occasions-consecutively from 1974-1977. That’s as straight as it can be!

After this stupendous achievement by the women folk, the men began roaring. And in the men’s singles Spaniard Rafael Nadal clawed back from two sets down to win an epic five-set duel with Russian Daniil Medvedev, to claim a record 21st Grand Slam men’s title in the Australian Open final. The end set score was a thrilling 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

In what is considered to be the greatest era of men’s tennis, Rafael Nadal surpassed the 20 Grand Slam haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

More informative stories playing in the weeks ahead. Fight your battles drawing power from World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-04

About: the world this week, 23 January to 29 January 2022, Webb Eyes, a Coup, India’s Republic Day, Faith Matters, a Homecoming, and Rock Music loses Meat.

Everywhere

Webb Eyes

The James Webb Space Telescope docked in its final designated orbit in Space, this Monday, and would be beginning its work of looking, in earnest, once its mirrors are positioned in the desired alignment. America’s NASA announced that Webb has been fully deployed in what is known as the L2 (Second Lagrange) Orbit – a region of balance between the gravity of the Sun and the Earth, at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. The Sun and the Earth are always on the same side at L2 making it ideal for observatory purposes. It has taken Webb about a month to get to this ‘pole position’.

Webb hopes to unlock the secrets of the making of the Universe, and among other things examine the first light and the celestial objects that formed soon after The Big Bang occurred, 13.7 billion years ago. The Big Bang – when matter, energy, time, and space came into being – brought forth billions of galaxies of which ours, the Milky Way Galaxy, is just a speck in the mind-boggling vastness and emptiness of the Universe.

A Honest Coup

This Monday the landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso saw a Lieutenant Colonel, Paul-Henri Damiba, lead a mutiny that ousted President Roch Kabore, in a coup d’etat. And as is the ‘Gun Standard’ in such coups, the new military leader promised a return to the normal constitutional order ‘when the conditions are right’.

Damiba blamed the overthrown President for failing to contain violence unleashed by Islamist militants in the country.

Burkina Faso, once colonised by France, is one of the least developed countries in Africa. And has been severely affected by the rise of Islamist terror since the mid 2010s.

‘Burkina Faso’ means the land of the honest (upright, incorruptible) men.

Honestly, we need to see that meaning stand upright.

India’s Republic Day

This 26th January, India celebrated its 73rd Republic Day in its 75 year of Independence. This is in the background of one Eternal Flame burning at the War Memorial, a new hologram Statue of ace freedom-fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and the freshly painted, newly built Central Vista Parliament building surroundings.

It was truly a sight to behold, with the military might in war-paint, and the diverse culture of India in energetic, harmonious display of all its vibrant hues and colours.

Normally, the head of another country is invited as Chief Guest to witness the essence of India (and hopefully be intimidated by its power), but this year, owing to the COVID19 restrictions in the midst of a tacky third wave, the President of India stood himself in.

The parade kindled national and patriotic fervour. The unison and discipline of the various presentations by people from all across India was absolutely inspirational, especially the young women in the forefront of many aspects of life in India. There was Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh-India’s first woman Rafael Fighter Jet Pilot for the just-acquired Rafael Aircraft; there was Lieutenant Preeti leading the Indian Navy tableau; there was Lieutenant Manisha Bohra of the Army Ordnance Corps leading an all-male contingent; and then there was a magnificent bike show by the woman officers – the Seema Bhawani Motorcycle Team – of the Border Security Force displaying a number of bewildering bike formations. The Indian Postal Department had Women Empowerment as its theme this year, celebrating their spirit of work.

The evolution of India’s Army uniforms and rifles was on display: three contingents of the Army wore the uniforms of the previous decades and also the old rifles, while one wore the new combat uniforms and the latest Tavor (Israel Weapon Industries) rifles.

A ‘high’ light of the parade day was the grandest and largest flypast ever by 75 aircraft and helicopters, when everyone had to look-up to see a number of perfect aircraft formations, in the sky. The audience was also provided with a cockpit view of the air-harmony and dance.

And there was also a horse, called Virat, of the President’s Bodyguard retiring on the 26th January -having served over 19 years ‘looking after various President’. The President and Prime Minister went over and patted him goodbye, on the cheek.

This Republic Day was also different in other ways with the Prime Minister rolling-out special person-specific letters, in his name, to various people outside India-not necessarily Indians-who have contributed to India in their own unique way. The letters arrived at their doorstep with a bouquet presented by the Indian Embassy of that country, and was an awesome gesture in recognising what the person stood for. Keep it up India.

Faith Matters

This week, the topic that stormed the South Indian State of Tamilnadu, was religious conversion, following the stunning death by suicide, on 19th January, of a 17 year old Class XII girl student, Lavanya, over suspected, attempted, forced religious conversion.

This happened in The Sacred Heart Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Thanjavur, run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM), a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Mother Mary of the Passion, at Ooty, then British India, in 1877. The school at the centre of the controversy itself was started in the year 1937 with the primary objective of serving the poor and socially backward children, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion.The FMM consists of an international religious congregation of women representing 79 nationalities spread over 74 countries on five continents.

The parents of Lavanya accused the School Authorities of forcing their daughter to convert. In a video statement- the veracity of which is yet to be proved-the girl said the school had tried to convert her. And when she refused, was forced by the hostel warden to clean rooms and toilets, do accounting work, and switch on & off motors on the campus: the school officials had asked the parents, in her presence, if they can ‘convert the faith of the girl’ and help her for further studies.

Lavanya, unable to bear the torture, following her supposed refusal to ply along, consumed insecticide on the school campus, earlier this month leading to her death.

This week saw protests by political parties demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the case, on the grounds of forced conversion. Political meat?

I studied in a Roman Catholic Boarding School in Southern India from the age of four upto the age I was old enough to enter University. And I do not recall even one instance of the Nun Sisters in the early stages, or the Brothers Priests in the later stages in attempting to convert me to their faith. Those were the days!

Homecoming

The disinvestment process in India’s Government owned Air India, started in last October, was concluded this Thursday with the Government officially handing over the management control and transferring 100% shares of Air India to Talace Private Limited a subsidiary of the Tata Group’s holding company. A new governing board will take over the Airline and the first flight under the Tatas began on 28 January 2022, with an in-flight announcement of the historic take-over.

Air India was started in 1932 by JRD Tata in a flight of self-reliance but was nationalized in 1953 by India’s then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Over the years, the Airline accumulated nothing but losses. Then to stop the bleeding, the Government decided to get its paws of the business of running an Airline. The Tata Group- one of India’s most diverse business groups-won the bid and Air India, with all its baggage and a weary Maharaja, arrived at the house of the Tatas, after 69 years ‘in the air’.

The expectations are flying high, given that Air India was once the best airline in the World.

Please Yourself

When Michael (Marvin, at birth) Lee Aday was born in Dallas, Texas, United States, his Dad, a Cop, said he looked like Meat and the name was meat for Meat Loaf to build a dazzling career in the rock and heavy metal genre of music.

Meat Loaf, American singer and Actor known for is powerful, wide-ranging voice, theatric live shows, and considered one of the greatest rock singers this world as ever seen, died this week at age 74 of COVID19 related complications. His bombastic 1977 rock opera ‘Bat Out of Hell’ is one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling an astounding 65 million copies. It held several hits including, ‘Two Out of Three ain’t Bad’. His sequel, ‘Bat Out of Hell-II: Back Into Hell’ had the No 1 hit,’ I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do it). I particularly rocked for the song, ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’.

In 1993, Meat loaf won a Grammy Award for best Solo Rock Vocal performance for the song, I’d Do Anything for Love. He has acted in 65 movies, including, Fight Club, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Wayne’s World.

Meat Loaf’s Dad was a violent alcoholic who would disappear for days at a time and when he did return home, would slap the son and vanish again. His Schoolteacher Mom would hop in to the car and go from bar-to-bar trying to find and bring him home.

His Mom sang in a gospel quartet and once told him, ‘good thing you’re not going to be singer, because you can’t carry a tune in a bucket’. However, in his sophomore year during athletics, when a shot put sailed 62 feet in the air and hit on the head, he discovered he had a three-and-a half octave vocal range.

When his Mom died of cancer, and Meat was 19, he was forced to leave Home as his Dad become increasingly violent, once lunging at him with a butcher knife.

He moved to Los Angeles, started acting, singing in bands, and then bumped in to song-writer Jim Steinman while auditioning for a play. The two then combined well as meat and loaf would, and churned out record-breaking albums that made history.

When Meat Loaf breathed his last, his wife Deborah and daughters Pearl and Amanda were by his side.

Heaven cannot wait: for us, he would be more than an ‘object in the rear view mirror’. There was ‘not a dry eye in the house’ when I mentioned him. RIP Meat Loaf.

More meaty stories arriving in the weeks ahead. Fly with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-03

About: the world this week, 16 January to 22 January 2022, Volcanoes, Hostage-Taking, Indian Classical Dance, and the flames of India’s War Memorial.

Everywhere

Volcanoes Erupting

Tonga, officially called the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian country in the South Pacific Ocean: an archipelago consisting of about 169 islands, many of which are uninhabited. It is 1800 km from New Zealand’s North Island. Tonga has a population of about 104500, with 70% living on the main island, Tongatapu.

Most of the islands have white beaches, coral reefs, and are covered with tropical rainforest. Tongatapu, is protected by lagoons and limestone cliffs. It’s home to the rural capital of Nuku’alofa, as well as beach resorts, plantations and the ‘Ha’amonga’a Maui’, a monumental stone coral gate trilithon-an ancient structure consisting of two large vertical stones supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top-called the Stonehenge of the Pacific.

Last Saturday, an undersea volcano, called, ‘Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai’, which was in deep-sleep for the past seven years, woke-up and erupted in what is believed to be the biggest on Planet Earth in the past 30 years. It triggered a tsunami, which waves flooded Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa. The volcano spewed volcanic ash blanketing the country’s islands, posing a serious health risk, and contaminating water supplies. The fury of the volcano left the country reeling under the impact.

Tonga has experienced a succession of natural disasters, in recent years. In 2018 Cyclone Gita-a Category-5 tropical storm-ripped through the islands; in 2020 Cyclone Harold severely disrupted normal life, and now this. Thankfully, loss of human life was a minimum.

Tonga is a very devout nation, with most Tongans belonging to a Christian Church. They need to get their prayers together to shake the might of God above. If faith can move mountains, surely it can stop an undersea volcano in its fiery, reckless track!

Hostage Taking

On 17 January, this week, Malik Faisal Akram, 44, a British National strolled in to the Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville, Texas, United States(US), as it live-streamed its Sabbath morning service on Facebook and Zoom, at around 11 am. Using a fire-arm he took four people, including the Rabbi, as hostages, disrupting the religious service. And began a ranting standoff with police for more than 10 hours. He released one man, unharmed, at about 5pm. Then an FBI Hostage Rescue Team swung in to action, entered the building, and killed the hostage-taker, safely rescuing all hostages.

Malik Faisal Akram demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86 year sentence at a nearby facility in Texas. She was convicted in 2010 on seven charges, including attempted murder and armed assault on US officers in Afghanistan.

Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani scientist who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, and obtained a doctorate from Brandeis University. She was taken into custody, for questioning, by the Afghan National Police in 2008, who said they found handwritten notes referring to potential targets of a ‘mass casualty attack’. When a group of Americans attempted to speak to her, she grabbed a US soldier’s rifle and opened fire on the interrogation team. However, no one was hit.

A jury in the United States found her guilty, leading to the 86 years prison sentence. Over several years, there has been many protests for her release, one argument being that she was framed.

Malik Faisal Akram was given to believe that an attack on Jews would stir the US into releasing Aafia Siddiqui, as he was convinced that Jews pulled the strings in Government. Experts say truly believing various anti-Semitic tropes could have led to the situation, and we need to continually call out various kinds of damaging slurs anytime we hear them.

Indian Classical Dancing

In India, when you mention ‘Kathak’ the name that immediately springs forth and dances in your mind is, Birju Maharaj.

Kathak is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word ‘Katha’, which means ‘story’. Kathak dancers tell various stories through their hands and extensive body movements, but most importantly through facial expressions. It also calls for nimble footwork.

Kathak is one of the most difficult classical dances of India. The Sangeet Natak Academy – India’s doyen and apex body which promotes the arts – recognizes eight classical Indian dances: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Sattriya, Manipuri, and Mohiniyattam.

The music that accompanies a Kathak performance is, by traditional Indian instruments such as Sarangi, Sitar, Manjira, Tabla, and Harmonium. Kathak is found in three distinct forms, called ‘Gharanas’, named after the cities where the Kathak dance tradition evolved: Jaipur, Benaras, and Lucknow. While the Jaipur gharana focuses more on the foot movements, the Benaras and Lucknow Gharanas focus more on facial expressions and graceful hand movements. That’s Kathak for you!

Pandit Birju Maharaj, India’s finest exponent of the classical Kathak dance died of a heart attack in Delhi this 17th January, at the age of 83. He was the torchbearer of the Kalka-Bindadin Gharana of the Lucknow style of Kathak dance, and was also a composer, singer, and choreographer. Initially, his name was ‘Dukh Haran’, which was later changed to ‘Brijmohan’, a synonym of Krishna. Along the way, Brijmohan Nath Misra was shortened as ‘Birju’.

He also revelled as a singer, poet, orator, painter, and an outstanding drummer – playing the Tabla and the Naal. He played the Sitar, Sarod, Violin, and Sarangi with no formal training. Beyond all this, he was a master story-teller.

A man of his calibre has to be crowned with numerous awards, and Pandit Birju Maharaj was no exception. He was conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award at the age of 28 (one of the youngest to receive the award), and received the Kalidas Samman, Nritya Choodamani, Andhra Ratna, Nritya Vilas, Adharshila Shikhar Samman, Soviet Land Nehru Award, Shiromani Samman, and the Rajiv Gandhi Peace Award, apart from an honorary doctorate from Benaras Hindu University. He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian order.

The world of Indian cinema turned to this genius whenever it required authentic Kathak dance to carry forward its storyline.

Pandit Birju Maharaj choreographed exquisite sequences in iconic Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shatranj Ke Khilari’: one featuring Amjad Khan-the Gabbar Singh of Indian blockbuster, Sholay fame – as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah surrounded by his queens. The other featuring a solo by Saswati Sen – a senior disciple of the Pandit. He also choreographed Bollywood Actress Madhuri Dixit twice, once in ‘Dil Toh Paagal Hai’, and again in ‘Devdas’ – Kaahe chhed. A song, ‘Aan Milo Sajana, sequence in the Hindi film ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’ was also guided by him.

Pandit Birju Maharaj won a National Film Award for Best Choreography in 2012, for the song ‘Unnai Kaanaathu Naan’ in the Tamil film Vishwaroopam where he taught Actor Kamal Hassan-a talented dancer himself-Kathak steps. Following through, he won the Award again for the song, ‘Mohe Rang Do Laal’ in the Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone starrer, ‘Bajirao Mastani’.

For the Pandit, dance was like connecting with the Almighty and he preferred to stay away from rauchy songs. Kamal Hassan was the only male actor he has ever choreographed for.

Pandit Birju Maharaj had a passion for cars and gadgets. He would have become a superb mechanic if not for the heavenly pull of Kathak. He could effortlessly knock down Televisions and Mobile Phones and assembly them back with the ease of a dance movement. He was a big fan of Hollywood movies, with Jackie Chan and Sylvester Stallone being his favourites.

The Pandit stayed active on Stage and ran a Dance School, ‘Kalashram’, until his death. He leaves behind five children- two sons and three daughters, and five grandchildren -on the last count. His wife passed away, 15 years ago. Sons Deepak, Jai Kishan, and daughter Mamta are prominent Kathak dancers. Girls are not permitted in to the Kathak family tradition but Mamta danced firm, was persistent and relentless and carries forward the tradition in her own way.

The Flames of a War Memorial

The landmark, India Gate in New Delhi was built by the British in 1931, when they colonised India, as a War Memorial for British Indian soldiers-90,000 in total-who died between 1914 and 1921 in the First World War, in France, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa and elsewhere, and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The names of 13,300 servicemen including some soldiers and officers from the British Army, are inscribed on the walls of the gate.

After independence in 1947 and following the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1972, a structure consisting of a black marble plinth with a reversed rifle, capped by a war helmet and bounded by four eternal flames, was built beneath the archway. This structure, called Amar Jawan Jyoti-Flame of the Immortal Soldier-has since 1971, served as India’s tomb of the unknown soldier. On normal days one of the four burners are kept alive, but on important days like the Republic Day, all four burners are fired. This flame is called the Eternal Flame, and has never been extinguished.

In 2019, India built The National War Memorial near the India Gate as a national monument to honour and remember soldiers of the Indian military who fought in armed conflicts of independent India. The names of 25,942 armed forces personnel killed during the armed conflicts with Pakistan and China as well as the 1961 War in Goa, Operation Pawan, and other operations are inscribed on granite tablets in golden letters and an eternal flame was lighted here to honour them.

This Friday, India merged the Amar Jyothi flame with the Eternal Flame at the National War memorial. This because the names of all Indian martyrs, from all the wars, including 1971, and wars before and after it are housed at the National War Memorial. Hence, it is only fitting to have the flame paying true tribute to martyrs at one unique place. One Sun is great, imagine having two Suns?

More classic, flaming stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Sing and dance with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-02

About: the world this week, 9 January to 15 January 2022, a colourful Actor reaches the stars, a country fights over fuel price hikes, a Prince loses his Titles, a Tennis Champion is deported-almost, a rat hero dies, and a style icon becomes a follower-gathering hit on Instagram.

Everywhere

Colour in Black & White

Actor Sidney Poitier, 94, died on the evening of 6 January 2022 in his home in Los Angeles, just when I was near the end of wrapping-up my last week’s World Inthavaaram. And I kept him warm for this week.

Sidney Poitier was one of the greatest film actors of the past century-a legend of our times. He blazed trails as a black actor who rose to fame during a time when there were few starring roles offered to African Americans. He set a standard for those who came after him and showed us, ‘how to reach for the stars’. Beautiful, brilliant, graceful, and elegant are just a few of the many words used to describe him.

He received three Academy Awards nominations, ten Golden Globe Awards nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, six British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations, eight Laurel nominations, one Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) nomination. He won one Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for ‘Lilies of the Field’ (1963), playing a handyman who helps a group of German-speaking nuns build a chapel…Wooh, I am almost out-of-breath!

Poitier’s entire family lived in the Bahamas, then a British Crown colony, but he was born, rather unexpectedly, in Miami, United States (US), while his parents were visiting for the weekend, which automatically granted him a US citizenship. He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved to Miami at age 15, and to New York City the next year.

He went on to become a stage actor and over time worked his way into Hollywood. Some of his best films are: ‘To Sir, with Love’; ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’, and ‘In the Heat of the Night’.

Poitier first married model Juanita Hardy in 1950 and then separated from her in 1965. He married a second time, to Joanna Shimkus, a Canadian actress in 1976, who starred with him in ‘The Lost Man’: Joanna ‘found her man’ and they remained married for the rest of Poitier’s life. Meanwhile, he filled the gap with a nine-year relationship with actress Diahann Carroll.

He had four daughters from his first marriage and two from his second. In addition to the six daughters, Poitier had eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. That’s the measure of the man.

Some of his famous quotes are: “I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before”; “A person doesn’t have to change who he is to become better.”

Beyond the quotes, he leaves behind…a lot!

Kazakhstan

This is a story playing over the past three years, from France to Ecuador, Zimbabwe to Lebanon, and in Pakistan and Iran. When Governments try to let the market determine energy prices (linked to increased taxes or reduced subsidies on fossil fuels) they are confronted with mass uprisings and turmoil, as the new policy invariably leads to an increase in fuel prices. An unprepared administration cracks down with excessive force. This amplifies public anger, which boils over into calls for, suddenly discovered, greater democratic rights.

Now, mirroring the trend is Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country endowed with an abundant supply of accessible mineral and fossil fuel resources. The end of price controls for Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), a popular, affordable fuel, in early January sparked protests- the largest since the collapse of the Soviet Union, three decades ago – in the oil-rich area of Western Kazakhstan.

Things escalated quickly across the country as demonstrations expanded to include calls for political reform. The Government shut down the internet. And protesters seized the airport and burned down some government buildings. A Russian-led military alliance deployed about 2,500 ‘peacekeepers’ at the President’s request. Then, security forces were given the shoot-to-kill order.

At least 164 people have been killed, more than 2,000 injured and thousands detained. The Government insists the country is stabilizing and that buildings overrun by protestors are now back under its control.

This is becoming a familiar story and maybe Governments should be better prepared before announcing ‘powerful uplifting changes’.

Melange

In other news, World No 1 Tennis Champion Novak Djokovic who was involved in a messy serve, smash, rally, and lob match with Australian Vaccination Rules was allowed to play in the Open, as decided by a Judge of an Australian Court, umpiring the rule-break.

However, it turns out that the Champion and falsified facts in relation to his December 2021 Covid-19 infection, which he used as an ace to clear the net of Australia’s Rules to play in the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam, where he plays to defend his title. He also admitted to breaking isolation rules while being Covid19 Positive.

But this Friday, Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa was again cancelled just days before the start of the Australian Open. The Australian Immigration Minister, Alex Hawke, exercised a personal power to cancel Djokovic’s visa, likely to result in the world No 1’s deportation and putting him out of contention in the tournament. The decision means that Djokovic could be effectively barred from re-entering Australia for three years unless he can show, in future attempts, that compelling circumstances exist, such as compassionate or Australian national interest grounds.

I’m glad that Australia is one Country that ruthlessly sticks to its Rules. The tournament is now positively open for others to win.

This week, Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom’s (UK) Royal Family was dragged deeper into the headlines-staying, Ghislaine Maxwell – Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking Case. A United States federal judge denied the Prince’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that she was sexually trafficked to the Prince when she was underage.

The Crown stepped into action-with the Royal Shoes-and stripped the Duke of York’s military titles and ‘the clothes’ of royal patronages have been returned to the Queen’s Royal Chest. Prince Andrew will also stop using the style ‘His Royal Highness’.

That’s a naked enough story. There’s indeed a limit to what clothes can cover-up?

A Rat Hero Dies

This week, a landmine sniffing expert, a mine-clearing African Giant Pouch Rat, running around lightly with the name ‘Magawa’ died at the age of eight.

Magawa was the most successful rat trained by the Belgian charity APOPO, to give a tails-up alert to human handlers about landmines so they can be found and safely deactivated. In 2020, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal for its heroism. It was the first rat to be given the medal in the charity’s 77 year history.

The PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) Gold Medal is an animal bravery award that acknowledges the bravery and devotion to duty of animals. An animal can be awarded the Gold Medal if it assists in saving human or non-human life when its own life is in danger or through exceptional devotion to duty. Wow, that’s amazing!

APOPO is an acronym from Dutch, which stands for ‘Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling’, or in English, ‘Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development’. APOPO is a global non-profit organization that researches, develops, and implements detection technology for rats for humanitarian purposes such as clearing landmines and detecting tuberculosis.

APOPO has Belgian roots with operational headquarters in Tanzania and further operations in Angola, Cambodia, Mozambique and Ethiopia. Bart Weetjens is the founder, who came up with the idea while wondering whether the rodents, that he kept as pets, could be used for finding landmines and other explosives.

Magawa was trained by APOPO, which has been raising the animals – known as HeroRATs – to detect landmines since the 1990s. The animals are certified for the job, after a year of intense training.

Bred in Tanzania, Magawa underwent the one year of training before moving to Cambodia -where up to six million landmines are believed to be still alive -to begin his high-stakes, bomb-sniffing career. In a five-year period, the rodent sniffed out over 100 landmines and other explosives in Cambodia.

Trained to detect a chemical compound within the explosives, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square metres of land -the equivalent of 20 football pitches with a capability of searching a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes-something that would take a human, with a metal detector, between one and four days.

Magawa weighed 1.2 kilograms and was 70 centimetres long. While that is far larger than many other rat species, it was still small enough and light enough that it did not trigger mines if it walked over them.

Magawa retired last June, after ‘slowing down’ as it reached old age. It was in good health and spent most of last week playing with its usual enthusiasm. But, by the weekend it started to slow down, napping more and showing less interest in food in its last days.

Last week, APOPO declared that a new batch of young rats was assessed by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and passed ‘with flying colours’.

Make rats your best friend, buy a trained rat: don’t know what they can sniff out!

Please Yourself.

Make-up mogul Kylie Jenner has become the first woman to reach 300 million followers on Instagram – the photo and video sharing social networking service.

Ariana Grande, previously the app’s most popular woman, is now tied in second place with Selena Gomez. The singers have 289 million each.

But, Football’s Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo remains Instagram’s most followed person, now with more than 388 million followers. Next up is Ronaldo, the first person to reach 200 million followers. Fellow footballer Lionel Messi has also broken the 300 million milestone.

Other accounts in the top 10 belong to former wrestler The Rock, Reality-TV personality Kim Kardashian, and singers Beyonce and Justin Bieber.

More explosive and without-make-up stories coming up ahead. Sniff with World Inthavaaram and gather more followers.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-01

About: the beginning of the year, the world this week, 2 January to 8 January 2022, Elizabeth Holmes, Desmond Tutu, James Webb, Richard Leakey, Apple, Narendra Modi, and Novak Djokovic.

Everywhere

Elizabeth Holmes

Dropping out of a famous College in America -and often finding brain-ticking space in your Dad’s garage-is the surest way to building up on a great start-up idea, turning it into a World-filling Company, and stardom. Apple, Microsoft, Google…used this mantra to get to where they are now.

Then came Elizabeth Holmes also using the garage path. She founded a Company called Theranos in the year 2003, at age 19, shortly after dropping out of chemical engineering at Stanford University, United States (US). Theranos is a combination of the words, ‘therapy and diagnosis’.

On its birth, Theranos was spoken of as a breakthrough health technology company, with claims of having devised blood tests that required minuscule amounts of blood and could be performed rapidly, using small automated devices that the company had developed. The firm promised it would revolutionise the healthcare industry. But it began to unravel in 2015, after a Wall Street Journal ‘Sherlock Holmes’ investigation, that its core blood-testing technology did not actually work. Theranos was officially closed-down in 2018. Elementary, Dr Watson!

During its growing-up years, Theranos was able to raise more than USD 900 million from Venture Capitalists including billionaires such as media magnate Rupert Murdoch and tech mogul Larry Ellison, and at one point was valued at USD 9 Billion. It was also considered the darling of Silicon Valley and Elizabeth Holmes was placed on a ‘Steve Jobs Pedestal’.

This week, in California, after nearly four months at trial, Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of conspiring to defraud investors. Holmes was convicted on four -conspiracy to commit fraud against investors and three counts of wire transfer fraud – of 11 counts, acquitted on four counts and the jury could not reach a decision on three counts.

Holmes knew the product she was selling to investors was a sham, but remained tight-lipped and hell-bent on the firm’s success. Lab directors told Holmes about the flaws in Theranos’ technology but were instructed to downplay their concerns. At the same time, Holmes told investors that the technology was operating as planned.

There was also another angle of blame on Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, Holmes’ former business partner and long-term boyfriend. Holmes has accused Balwani, 19 years her senior, of emotional and sexual abuse. She described an intense relationship, in which Balwani controlled how she ran Theranos, who she spoke to, how she spoke to them, and what she ate. He has denied the allegations. Their decade-long relationship came to an end around the same time he stepped down as Chief Executive Officer in May 2016. He faces a separate trial next month.

This tarnishes the image of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs like never before. And the now 37 years old Elizabeth Holmes could face more than 20 years in prison.

Desmond Tutu

This week Nobel Peace laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, aged 90 years, who passed away on 26 December 2021 in South Africa was cremated by a green, climate friendly process called Aquamation. He has specifically requested this method before his death and wanted his funeral to be a non-ostentatious one.

Aquamation, or Alkaline Hydrolysis, consists of cremation by water rather than fire. In the process, the body is immersed for three to four hours in a mixture of water and a strong alkali like potassium hydroxide in a pressurised metal cylinder, and heated to around 150 degrees Celsius. Through the process, the entire body is liquified, except for the bones, which are dried in an oven and then reduced to dust (…unto dust you shall return). Alkaline Hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as flameless cremation.

Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and a human rights activist. He bravely opposed apartheid in South Africa and won the Nobel for his non-violent struggle against apartheid.

He served as Bishop of Johannesburg and then as Archbishop of Cape Town, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position.

He was, kind of, best friends with Nelson Mandela and participated in peacefully dismantling apartheid in South Africa when Mandela was released after 27 years in jail and later took over the reins of government as the first black President.

Desmond Tutu married Nomalizo Leah Shenxane, a teacher whom he had met while at college. He leaves behind his wife and four children. One of his daughters married her partner, an atheist woman Professor in the Netherlands, and he was supportive of the union. Though same sex marriage is legal in South Africa, the Anglican Church insists that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. He had said, “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this”.

His daughter said of him, “My Dad has a real gift of being on the right side of an issue, not from the point of the argument of right and wrong, but from the point of caring for people on the margins. Who is the least powerful one in the configuration? What is the most loving thing in any situation? That generally leads him in the right direction”.

His remarkable warmth and mischievous humour were recognised by world leaders, many of whom consider him to be their moral compass.

The world will miss his liberal kind. Sleep well Reverend Desmond Tutu.

Richard Leakey

It’s almost common knowledge, and agreed by most Scientists, that the human species-now living with the name Homo Sapiens-first emerged somewhere in Africa about 2.5 million years ago. This is based on fossilised bones and skulls that have been uncovered in East Africa and dated accurately by radiometric dating. These age of the bones and skulls discovered range between 25,000 and 4.4 million years and show different stages of human evolution. These fossils have been uncovered by paleoarchaeologists: scientists who study the material remains of the entire human evolutionary line.

The story of human origin goes like this: For 99.9 % of our history, from the time of the first living cell, the human ancestral line was the same as that of Chimpanzees. Then, about 6 million years ago, a new line split off from the Chimpanzee line, and a new group appeared in the open Savannas (grass lands and wood lands) of Africa, rather than in the Rainforest Jungle. The old ‘Rainforest Group’ continued to evolve separately, and two of its species remain in existence to this day: the common Chimpanzee and the Bonobo(an endangered Great Ape).

The new ‘Savanna Group’ evolved, over the millennia, into several species (how many is not entirely clear, but at least 18 different ones – all bearing the Genus Homo), until only one was left: us, Homo Sapiens.

Until the 1950s, European scientists believed that Homo Sapiens evolved in Europe, or possibly in Asia, about 60,000 years ago. Since then, excavation of fossil bones in East Africa, pioneered by famous palaeontologists, Mary and Louis Leakey, has revealed that Homo Sapiens may have emerged in Africa much earlier.

To bring you on step. The first early human fossil bones were found in Europe- of Neanderthals in Germany in 1857 and in France in 1868. The Java Man was found in Indonesia, in 1894. The Peking Man was found in China in 1923–1927. And more recently, confirmation of the Dragon Man – a more than 1.4 million years old skull found in China’s Harbin in 1933.

Confusing, what do we make of all of this?

Then steps-in, Richard Leakey, the son of Mary and Louis Leakey, a Kenyan paleoanthropologist (studies human evolution through fossil and archaeological records) who helped uncover evidence to prove humankind evolved in Africa. He nailed it.

Leakey’s expeditions in the 1970s altered our understanding of human evolution, especially with the discovery of a 1.9 million year old skull of Homo Habilis in 1972 and a 1.6 million year old skull of Homo Erectus in 1975.

In 1984, his team including Kamoya Kimeu-considered one of the greatest fossil hunters of all time-uncovered a near complete Homo Erectus (Homo Ergaster) skeleton on the banks of the Nariokotome River, near Lake Turkana in Kenya that became known as the ‘Turkana Boy’, a youth – 7 to 11 years old – who lived 1.5 to 1.6 million years ago. This was the most complete early human skeleton ever found and became a game changer in understanding the very early history of mankind.

Richard Leakey then went on to unlocking more secrets of our evolution.

In 1993, a small propeller-driven plane piloted by Richard Leakey crashed, crushing his lower legs, both of which were later amputated and thereafter he lived with artificial legs. In later years his kidneys refused to function and he survived, with reasonable health, on a kidney transplant-donated by his brother.

This week, on 2 January 2022, the famed anthropologist who was nearly 77 years old passed away in Kenya.

Leakey was also a conservationist, leading the charge to try to wipe out the poaching of African elephants and rhinos, although his methods were often considered controversial – He once burnt down a whole stack of poached ivory.

Later, he tried his hand at Politics too and leaves the world with the title of paleoanthropologist, fossil-hunter, conservationist, and politician.

James Webb

The James Webb Telescope Observatory, built by the US and named after one of the architects of the Apollo moon landings, was launched into Space on 25 December 2021 by an Ariane rocket from the Kourou, in French Guiana. Webb is the world’s largest space telescope and is the successor to the Hubble telescope.

The mission’s goal is to show the first stars to light up the Universe. The Webb telescope has a life of 10 years (compared to the Hubble’s 30 years) has a 6.5 metre(m) mirror, weighs 6200 kilograms and can withstand temperatures of (-) 230 Degrees Centrigrade.

In about two weeks after launch, Webb will unfold from its compact launch configuration into the operational configuration, which is nearly the size of a Tennis Court. This week saw the observatory’s secondary mirror locked into position on the end of three 8 metre long booms. It sets the stage for the all-important unpacking of Webb’s primary mirror -the biggest reflecting surface ever sent into orbit. The mirror’s size will enable it to gather the faintest signals in the most exquisite detail. But the reflector will be useless if the light it collects cannot be directed into the telescope’s instruments. This is the role of the 74 cm-wide secondary mirror. Sitting out in front, it will bounce back into the heart of the observatory whatever the main mirror sees.

Webb’s primary mirror consists of 18 hexagonal segments made of gold-plated beryllium, which is light-weight and holds its shape at very low temperatures. The gold coating makes for near-perfect reflection in the infrared-the wavelength of light in which the pioneer stars will be seen to shine.

Now we have Eyes at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth looking deep into Space. Wonder what it would see?

Apple

Apple became the first US company to be valued at over USD three Trillion on Monday as the tech company continued its phenomenal share price growth, tripling in value in under four years. A pandemic-era surge in tech stocks has driven the major US tech companies to new highs, pulling US stock markets with them. Apple got past USD 2 trillion in 2020. Apple alone is now more valuable than the combined values of Boeing, Coca-Cola, Disney, Exxon-Mobil, McDonald’s, Netflix, and Walmart. Its shares have risen 38% since the beginning of 2021, one of the largest gains on the Dow Jones industrial average stock market index.

Narendra Modi

The Prime Minister (PM) of India, Narendra Modi, was on a visit to the State of Punjab – bordering Pakistan- to inaugurate new projects and also address a rally in the city of Ferozepur, ahead of State Elections. He arrived at Punjab’s Bhatinda Airport this Wednesday morning, and was supposed to fly to the National Martyrs’ Memorial and later to the rally in a helicopter. But the helicopter trip was delayed by bad weather and poor visibility. And the convoy finally took to the road. On the way the PM’s Convoy got stuck, almost trapped for about 20 minutes on a flyover, some 30km from the memorial due to a blockade by protesters, in what is being seen as a mighty serious security lapse. The protesters were demanding the resignation of a cabinet minister whose son has been accused over the deaths of farmers during the Farm Laws repeal agitation. The PM turned back to Bhatinda Airport and and then flew to New Delhi.

Seems that the Farmers were tipped off by the Punjab Police -acting on the behest of the Sate Government-when it was the sworn sacred duty of the Police to ensure contingency plans and safety of the PM of the Country.

The security breach, a first of its kind, caused a major uproar all over India with people demanding punishment for those responsible: Punjab being awfully close to Pakistan and previous shooting incidents in the area coming back to memory.

This is an unacceptable unprecedented situation and a severe wake-up call to the security think-tanks and Politicians. I would like to see some heads roll-top down.

Novak Djokovic

With the Australian Open Tennis Tennis Tournament set to begin in Australia the World No 1 Champion Novak Djokovic-a noted vaccine sceptic-played into a controversy resulting in being served with a quarantine in an Australian Hotel.

Djokovic boasted of getting a vaccination exemption, on unexplained medical grounds, when rules said that all players in the Australian Open must be double-jabbed.

Someone messed-up by giving a free-pass Visa and someone else woke up in time to stop him at the Airport in Australia for not being vaccinated, and promptly had his Visa cancelled. He now faces an unceremonious deportation, while the legal rules play across the net with him sitting it out on his Hotel bench. Should not Djokovic be more responsible? Watch out for that ace.

More fascinating and wild-eyed stories about people and communities coming up in the weeks and months ahead. Play and serve World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-End

About: the world this week, 26 December 2021 to 1 January 2022, the end of 2021 -what it did to us and the beginning of a brand new year, 2022 – new stories to tell.

Everywhere

America

The Ghislaine Maxwell -Jeffrey Epstein story occupied the best spots and was massaged well in the news of the world. In one of the most high-profile convictions of a woman for enabling a sex trafficking ring, Ghislaine Maxwell, the 60 years old daughter of disgraced British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, was found guilty of grooming and trafficking girls for pedophile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to savour. Epstein, killed himself in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges himself.

The pair enticed girls as young as 14 to engage in ‘so-called massages’, in which sex abuse came to be taught as ‘casual and normal’, with vulnerable victims showered with money and gifts. One kind of Sex Education?

The conviction was a major victory for the more than 100 accusers who fought for over a decade to have Epstein and his co-conspirators face criminal charges.

Ghislaine probably came to this level of ‘moral corruption’ due to a dysfunctional childhood, physical and verbal abuse by her father, who in 1991 vanished from the deck of his private Yacht, Lady Ghislaine (named after her), off the Canary Islands. His body was later found floating in the sea. Soon it came out that Robert Maxwell had raided the Mirror Group’s Pension Fund of GBP 440 million as part of a scheme to artificially inflate the company’s share price at the expense of his employees. Robert Maxwell had risen from extreme poverty in a Czechoslovak Jewish settlement and most of his family was murdered in the Holocaust. He went on to become a British Army war hero, then an academic publishing magnate, a Labour Member of Parliament, and eventually owner of the Daily Mirror, one of the United Kingdom’s biggest-selling newspapers.

Ghislaine Maxwell could face about 65 years in jail and the sentence is yet to be pronounced.

Cricket

Australia and England are playing for the Ashes Cup in Australia, and this week the land of cricketing great Don Bradman bowled a new hero. Test debutant Scott Boland starred his name in the record books becoming an instant hero in Australian cricket with an astonishing six-wicket haul that wrapped up the Ashes on day three of the third test in Melbourne this week. Plucked from obscurity when called up by selectors on Christmas Eve, the 32 years old Victoria paceman finished with outrageous innings figures of 6 wickets for 7 seven runs in 4 overs, sending his home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground into a joyous tizzy.

Along the way he matched the 19-ball record for the fastest five-wicket haul in tests shared by England’s Stuart Broad at the 2015 Ashes, and Australia’s Ernie Toshack in 1947.

Boland is only the second indigenous Australian to play Test Match Cricket after Jason Gillespie. Boland grew up unaware of his Indigenous heritage, which includes links to the Gulidjan people, an Aboriginal tribe from the western part of his home state of Victoria.

Australia now take an unassailable lead in the five match series, that spills over to the new year 2022.

India in Precaution Mode

While the World went ‘oo-la-la’ over booster shots of the COVID19 Vaccine, India calmly announced a measured plan to tackle the new variant. For the first time since the pandemic, vaccinations for children is set to begin and those in the age between 15 & 18 will get their first shot from 3rd January 2022 onwards. Healthcare and frontline workers will get a ‘precautionary dose’ beginning from the 10th January 2022, and those over 60 years with co-morbidities can roll up their sleeves also from the 10th January.

I like that new variant term, ‘precautionary dose’ that ‘boosts’ your immunity, and there’s no Greek in it.

The End of The Year – The Year that Was

Over the past year 2021, we have been overwhelmed by a quick spreading, hydra headed pandemic that refuses to die down. And we still do not know how it all began – the origins-in China. We spent the year challenging the Greek Alphabet, to the very end, on finding names to name.

We have been flooded with a deluge of water from never-ending rains and a hurricane of storms, and cooked-on another extreme-by fires flaring up in one country after another. The smoke was hard to miss. Climate change was written all over the land, the seas, and the sky. We even tried to find a way to hold the Tempest with a Hamlet’ian ‘to do or not to do’ in a summit in Glasgow and tried to declare things are being controlled-though the action was missing. Blah, blah, blah?

We were struck by the chaotic exit of the United States and allied countries from Afghanistan leaving it to the gun-wearing, long beard-wallahs to just walk-in and take-over the country. Conquering never looked so easy. And the Taliban kept the girls out of school and from an uplifting education. They promised a better version of themselves, but the old stripes were unmistakable and hard to change.

The last remains of dissent in Russia was locked-out, locked down -and maybe knocked off -with opposition politician Alexei Navalny sent to a penal colony prison, when he dared to return home after recovering from a ’state of poisoning’. Russia’s appetite for coercion was on full display with a troop build-up near Ukraine, complemented by a sophisticated disinformation campaign that questioned Ukraine’s very right to exist.

Over the year, we saw new leaders take over: in the USA it was Joe Biden from Donald Trump, in Israel Naftali Bennett from Benjamin Netanyahu, and in Germany Olaf Scholz from Angela Merkel, among others. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson cruised along in the United Kingdom and made one more baby during the year, while Vladimir Putin forged himself in iron and Xi Jinping built himself into a China Wall. He tried crossing the Himalayan Wall and ran into India’s 56 inch-chest Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now both sides are watching their boundaries…and their chests of armoury.

In Myanmar, winning the Nobel Peace Prize wasn’t enough to keep its civilian Leader Aung San Sui Kyi in democratic power, and was shot out by a military junta sending the prize winner peacefully to count bars in jail. The Burma teak is being tested like never before.

In Japan, a Princess married a commoner giving up her royal titles to cherish her love, and left the land of the Rising Sun to rise elsewhere. In France, Josephine Baker a professional entertainer famous for the banana belt skirt dance and a World War -II spy was inducted in the Pantheon in Paris – the highest honour in France. And she became the first black superwoman in this region.

In Space, USA’s NASA flew a helicopter called Ingenuity on Mars in a first of its kind in another Planet, after successfully landing its Perseverance Rover on Mars. And thrillingly repeated the helicopter flying feat many times over.

2021 was the year when the full and far-reaching impact of social media, its misappropriation and how or whether it could be tamed, was actually felt. Facebook learn it the hard way and tried damage control by ‘meta’morphosing itself in to a new name.

India won the Miss Universe Title after 21 long years and suddenly India, despite its multiple contradictions, showed its beauty spots, again. India’s Prime Minster (PM) withdraw a path-breaking New Farm Laws threesome after almost a year of incessant meaningless agitation by opponents to change. He stepped back, acknowledging failure to convincingly explain the ‘shooting’ benefits to old-habits rooted farmers. During the year India’s PM has gone about execution and implementation in a quiet, tireless, fast-paced manner, and the results are showing in all States he has touched. He would easily be My Person of the Year.

India’s first ever Chief of Defence Staff was martyred in an unbelievable peace-time Helicopter crash, taking with him some of the finest Officers of the country. India was shocked beyond tears and a Nation rose in unison to pay a deserving tribute. I expect the reasons of the crash to be found during 2022.

In the Tokyo Olympics 2020 held in Japan after a pandemic delayed and modified start in 2021, India did surprisingly well, the best in over four decades, which brought cheers to a billion hearts. India won 7 medals, 1 Gold, 2 Silver, and 4 Bronze: its richest ever haul and finest performance of all time. Notable was in Hockey, where India got its stick work together and was back to winning ways after a 41 year medal drought: they won a bronze medal.

In the Paralympic Games that followed, India did even better with 19 medals (5 Gold, 8 Silver, and 6 Bronze)and – the highest in its history.

It is ‘No time to die’ sang Billie Eilish in the James Bond movie of the year, and ABBA make a comeback, while Britney Spears got her freedom back after years of a strangulating conservatorship. Oops, we hope to see her sing one more time. Olivia Rodrigo climbed the music charts with a new ‘Driving Licence’, while Yohani & Satheeshan’s, ‘Manike Mahge Highe’ and Pawan Ch & Mangli’s, ‘Saranga Dariya’ stole my heart.

Space became closer to Earth as people began flying to the edge of Space and back in double quick time. A Virgin start was followed by Amazon and then SpaceX.

While all this was happening, America continued to kill itself in the numerous gun-shooting incidents sprayed through the year.

2021 appears to have been a year of warnings, about our relationships with technology, the planet, and those who govern us, whether elected or self-appointed.

Somehow, we thought that the year 2021 will be better than the year 2020. Well, almost. But I’m hoping 2022 will be ‘the bridge over troubled waters’ enabling us to cross over to doing all the great things we wanted to do over the past two years. We are wiser and like the spider endlessly building its web despite severe ‘tearing’ setbacks, we move on to building stronger. We need to keep at it.

I came across this Donella Meadows – a Systems Thinker – quote while reading Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics, “Let’s face it, the universe is messy. It is nonlinear, turbulent, and chaotic. It is dynamic. It spends its time in transient behaviour on its way to somewhere else, not in mathematically neat equilibria. It self-organizes and evolves. It creates diversity, not uniformity. That’s what makes the world interesting, that’s what makes it beautiful, and that’s what makes it work”.

We have arrived here riding on the shoulders of our forefathers – from the hunter-gatherer mode to today’s variegated lifestyles. We need to grow the bone and muscle in our frames and shoulders for future generations, to climb upon. Let’s be mindful and collaborate with one another to uplift mankind and life on Earth. 2022 may not be any easier and could bring with it all kinds of struggles, old and new, and we need to be ready – with our minds – to handle it. That’s the superpower all of us have!

Happy New Year 2022.

More delightful ‘week stories’ coming up in the year ahead. Live with World Inthavaaram.